Skylight Caves with the Borealis AT

Mountainsmith hosts guest blogger David Sekiguchi to share his experience in Skylight Caves in Sisters, OR, with his Borealis AT Camera Backpack. The pack proved rugged enough to carry his gear safely through the tight cavern, hear about it here:

Timidly, I crawled on my hands and knees down the dark abyss of a cave. “How did I get here?” I wondered? Just hours ago I was basking in sunlight and now I’m wet and dirty struggling to move in this cave tube. The hour was getting late and it was time to find my way back to the earth’s surface.

My lovely Borealis AT fearlessly took the plunge underground for my first ever cave photo shoot. I was very happy with the built in cover that I used later on the trip.

My brother, friend, and I set out earlier the previous day to camp and shoot some photography. In the planning stages, my brother suggested a visit to the Skylight Caves. We all agreed to go, but getting there was no easy feat. After getting lost numerous times, we finally stumbled upon the not-so-friendly looking caves. After descended the cold steel ladder, the temperature dramatically dropped and the adventure began!

About a quarter of a mile down the esophagus of the cave, a unique rock structure lay before us creating the perfect set for our photo shoot. I quickly attached a flash and lens to my camera body and started shooting away. Each explosion of light was all it took to transcribe the scene around us. Several minutes later, we plunged deeper into the darkness.

Perfect pitch black except for that small explosion of light was used to photograph this picture. From the coast of the Indian Ocean to trails running into the earth, Mountainsmith makes a great rugged pack just as adventurous as me.

The ceiling began to defend, forcing us to our hands and knees. Several feet later it opened up again to an even larger chamber than before. It became an upside down sea of waves pressing down and pulling back. Finally, the cave ended in a small tube like tunnel just barely large enough for a person to squeeze through. We gave it a try, but failed to proceed any further. Turning around, we began to ascend towards the glorious rays of sunshine.